


There was something I missed

by Hawkefeathers



Series: Reaper76 Week 2017 [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Mild Gore, Mild Sexual Content, Reaper76 Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 19:03:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9338798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawkefeathers/pseuds/Hawkefeathers
Summary: Above him Reaper looms, a shock of black against a snow-white backdrop. They are the only signs of life for miles around, tangled together in the ruins of what had once been the headquarters of Overwatch.This used to be their home.-For Day 1 of Reaper76 Week - "How We Were"





	

**Author's Note:**

> For best results, listen to My December by Linkin Park and Masterpiece Theatre I by Marianas Trench.

_And I just wish that I didn't feel like there was something I missed._

Jack coughs, a fine spray of blood tainting the frigid winter air.

Above him Reaper looms, a shock of black against a snow-white backdrop. They are the only signs of life for miles around, tangled together in the ruins of what had once been the headquarters of Overwatch.

This used to be their home.

It’s sentimentality that brought him here, Jack thinks. That’s what made him respond to the cryptic summons that had appeared on his visor a few days prior, calling him back to the scene of one of his greatest failures. He knew before he even set out on this journey that he was walking into a trap. But that didn’t stop him. Not when he knew who was calling him.

The fight that had ensued when he arrived was laughably one-sided. Normally he could hold out longer than this, could give almost as good as he got. But today he didn’t have it in him. Not here, and not on the anniversary of the day that everything had come crashing down.

His shoulder is shot to shit; most of his arm has gone numb and there’s the uncomfortable sensation of bones grinding together every time he shifts. His visor and mask are missing, ripped free when Gabe managed to pin him down. He can’t see, can barely hear over the howling of the wind.

But worst of all are the frozen metal claws buried in his side. One of them has pierced his lung, causing it to slowly fill with blood. He can feel another claw threatening to push in next to the first on every inhale and it leaves his already compromised breaths shallow and weak. It’s like drowning and suffocating all at once, but in slow motion. His head swims as his mind conjures an image of another time, another place. It’s so far removed from this that it feels like another life entirely.

_Gabriel’s fingers press into his sides hard enough to bruise. Drawing breath feels like a struggle as Gabe’s thrusts knock the breath out of him every time. He’s so close. So close! He can feel the grip on his side tightening as-_

-Reaper growls above him. The sudden harsh squeeze of his claws has Jack gasping and writhing underneath him, but he can’t get free.

“There you are, boy scout. Can’t have you getting away from me that easily.”

Reaper’s voice is close, too close. It’s also clearer than he’s heard it in a long time. He must have removed the mask; after all, there’s no point in wearing it when Jack can’t see his face either way.

_Gabe’s face when they exchange rings is the most beautiful thing Jack has ever seen. For the first time his face is completely unguarded and open, like he’s so damn happy that he can’t contain himself. For just a moment Jack forgets the pain that comes with knowing that they’ll never be able to have a formal ceremony. Their positions will never allow it._

Jack wishes he could ignore the pain of his injuries. The bloody mess of his shoulder is starting to freeze to the hard concrete underneath him and his joints _ache_ with the cold.

He heaves out a breath, wishing he could see the look on Gabriel’s face now. Was there any hint of the man he once was? Any sign of the man that fought by his side time and time again? Any sign of the man that used to whisper prayers into his skin as he slowly took Jack apart night after night?

“I thought...you wanted me dead. So what’s taking you so long?” Jack can’t help the way his teeth chatter as he speaks. He sounds pathetic even to his own ears. Gabriel laughs above him, the sound ugly and twisted and he thinks he might be sick.

“I never said I wanted it to be quick, Jack.”

Jack feels hot breath against the skin of his throat. Above him Gabriel’s body is like a furnace, the constant decay and regeneration of his body generating a wave of heat. Despite himself Jack wishes he could get closer. He’s starting to lose feeling in his feet and his good hand falters it’s grip on Gabriel’s coat.

_Jack huddles closer to Gabe as they pass the time until their next mission in the small safehouse. Sometimes he envies the Omnics; the harsh cold of the Arctic Circle doesn’t affect them nearly as much. He hasn’t been able to get warm since they got here and he’d practically latched onto Gabe for warmth as soon as they were alone. He can hear Gabe chuckling as he presses his blessedly warm lips to Jack’s throat._

The lips against his throat aren’t just a memory. There is a brief moment where Jack struggles to remember when and where he is. It’s getting harder to think, harder to keep himself anchored to the present.

But would it really be so bad to let himself slip away into those memories? He was happier there; they both were. The present holds only pain; pain and blood and death, all things that he is tired of dealing with day in and day out. One thought rings out, so loud and clear that Jack feels tears gathering on his frozen lashes.

At least Gabe still loved him, back then.

“Just get it over with. Let me go.”

_“God dammit, Jack! I’m not letting go! Give me your other hand!” Jack struggles to obey, between the head wound and the certainty that, if Gabe were to stay, they’d both get killed. But Gabe was having none of it, gripping Jack’s wrist hard enough that a normal man’s bones would have been crushed. “I’m not leaving you like this!”_

“Oh, I’m not leaving you like this, Jackie.”

The brush of Gabriel’s lips is like fire against his skin. Nothing else feels real in that moment. He can hardly feel anything but those burning lips and the claws digging further into his chest. Jack realizes that he’s dying. The thought doesn’t bother him anymore.

Gabriel’s mouth opens, needle-sharp teeth sinking into his skin and Jack screams-

_-screams as Gabe bites down on his shoulder hard enough to bruise. He comes with the other man’s name on his lips, fire in his veins as Gabe drives towards his own release. Jack’s vision goes white, euphoria washing over him as he wishes, futilely, that they could stay in this moment forever. No more war, no more fighting. Just the two of them._

_Together._

  
  
  



End file.
